So i was thinking of bike commuting mainly for fitness reason. I never bike commute in my life, any tips while on the road? What should i bring with me? Thanks
by WhichConference7618
So i was thinking of bike commuting mainly for fitness reason. I never bike commute in my life, any tips while on the road? What should i bring with me? Thanks
by WhichConference7618
21 Comments
Are you in 30 miles per day shape already?
My advice is try it on a Sunday, when you have less of a rush and more time to explore your setup.
Look into buses that can take your bike, if there are particularly harrowing stretches of road that you’d rather not ride through.
Beware tipsy people returning from the wineries, and angry commuters.
That’s a pretty long commute. Is this all trail?
Definitely give it a dry run on an off day. If feasible, consider a multi-mode commute. Or at least make sure you understand what your bail out points are for public transit in case you want/need them.
If you don’t know what you’re doing, just do it. First time with nice weather on a weekend/day off, when it does not matter if you fail. Once you suceed, do it again on a workday, and be proud all day long. Don’t push yourself to do it every day right from the start; slowly ramp it up. If you feel like doing it every day is too much, then maybe it is.
You are going to be sore. But if you manage to stick with it, it will get easier very quickly.
https://bicyclesafe.com has good advice on how to ride with cars
Use something like RideWithGPS or Strava heatmaps to plan routes by looking at where other people ride. Apple Maps or Google maps will often send you down unsafe roads
Combine with transit where possible. That’s a pretty far distance for most new riders and you’d probably be better off taking the bus and using the bike for the first and last few miles
this is gonna be your 5x/wk commute? what’s your experience level on a bike and general cardio condition? 15mi 2x/day is a lot for a newbie.
edit: i’ll echo what others are saying, look into bike+bus or bike+light rail options if possible. sitting with a book while public transit whisks you where you need to go is a nice way to spend even just part of your morning commute.
That’s gonna be a long ride on flat terrain for a first-timer, let alone in a hilly area. Can you drive part of the way, park somewhere, and bike the rest? Then each week make your car trip shorter and your bike trip longer until you feel like you’re up for the whole shebang.
https://cycle.travel/map creates much better routes than Google Maps.
You’ll be fine- have a plan if your bike breaks down mid commute- this will be a combination of a repair kit to limp home/ to the office(extra tubes/ tire levers, a pump or co2, a multitool with a chain link, etc ) a bus that you could hop on if you get hurt or something is totally fucked, and/ or a spouse, friend, coworker, or uber xl that can pick you up if you truly get stranded
The soreness/ tiredness/ out of shape will go away pretty quickly
Ebike or acoustic?
No problem on an ebike…but ja as others said…if you can ride 30 miles no problem acoustic either
For a first-timer, that ride will be fine. On the way home, you’re probably going to feel it.
The problem is that if you don’t bike that much, you’re probably in good enough shape to do a 30 mile roundtrip commute once, maybe twice a week. Expect it’ll take 2-3 months for you to really get into 5 commutes a week shape.
For a commute that long, you’re going to really benefit from a drop-bar bike. Pedaling efficiency and speed are both your friend when trying to do long rides repeatably. You’ll also want to consider luggage; wearing a backpack will not be comfortable and you’re going to want both everything you need for work and a change of clothes.
Agree with what everyone says about trying it out first, but also…
Once you get used to it, this will be great. It’s not that hilly really. Have fun! It’s a great way to get fit
Assuming you’ve never done anything this long before, I would gradually work up to this trip. You wouldn’t want to exhaust yourself halfway through
do this ride slow with breaks and snacks / drinks a few times on the weekend first. get a feel for it, get used to it, and then start commuting IMO.
Put on a podcast and take your time. You will go faster day by day with less strain on your body, but first you need to prime your body for that. 15 miles might not be a lot, but depending on your work those 15 miles back will be 2x harder than morning commute. That hill at the end is an absolute “treat”. Stick with it for a week and you will notice improvement on day to day basis. Get the setup right or your knees will not be happy
Are you already a cyclist but wanna commute or just off the couch? If it’s the latter, you should work up to this effort. Example: start only going 2 or 3 one way commutes a week, not on consecutive days. Then gradually increase the volume.
Get an ebike with cushy seat. Also, check out all the road using Google street view and make sure they’re safe for bike.
Agree with what everyone is saying. If you’re already ripping fit, this could be a really good start and end to your day. If you’re starting from zero, it might be worth building up to.
Can you put your bike on your car? “Drive in, bike home; bike in drive home” is a nice way to ease in and see how the route feels just once per day.
Have tools and know how to handle a flat.
Have a bail out – catch a bus, call a friend who lives on your way in. You might need that.
Don’t be afraid to start. You’ve got great weather, great roads, and a great idea. Have a great time.
I don’t see an issue with either the distance or the elevation change – I used to commute 13 miles each way to work and back, with less elevation change.
What no one is talking about are what I consider to be the more important aspects:
1. After that long of a ride you’ll be sweating, and the sweating likely won’t stop for about 30 minutes after your ride is done. I was fortunate that my workplace had showers, so I packed my work clothes and shower stuff and showered after getting to work and hung my riding gear and towel out to dry. Unfortunately I didn’t have 30 minutes to burn so even after showering and changing into clean clothes I was still sweating for a while.
2. Road safety. I don’t know anything about your actual route but mine was mostly city streets, which included 1 mile of bike lane but the rest was regular road and some of it was two lanes of traffic in each direction. The only plus was that I was usually going in the opposite direction of rush hour traffic. Obviously I rode with flashing lights even in broad daylight on the way home.
Definitely try your route out and make sure you feel safe.
Definitely doable, both ways you will be sore but probably not regret it. Just know that it will probably take more time than you think. You don’t wanna have 5 miles left when the sun is setting. But if you are gonna come back that road the same day, i think its really hard for a beginner and could take 4-6 hours depending on your fitness, obviously including the breaks.